Berlusconi to contest for prime minister's post

Rome, Dec 9 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party, said Saturday that he would run for office again next year.

"I'm in the race," he said. "Without me the PDL will lose."

Berlusconi, 76, who was convicted of tax fraud in October and sentenced to four years in jail, previously said he would not run.

However, he has threatened to bring down the Mario Monti government, which, he said, was leading Italy into a recession.

Berlusconi, forced to step down in 2011, made the statement shortly after he was found guilty of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison. The sentence was later reduced to one year under a 2006 amnesty law aimed at reducing prison overcrowding.